This 1/48 Revell Super Tomcat is my second submission on ARC, I went with a more aggressive attempt at weathering this time around and had a lot of fun putting this jet together. It isn't the most realistic or uniform paint/weathering job, I don't have an airbrush, at least not one that can handle enamel, so all of the streaking, fading and layers of grime I had to produce using layers of ink pulled and faded with q-tips over layers of clear gloss. It's sort of like a very amateur wash, but I don't dilute the ink, I squeeze it from the felt tube of Sanford Micro pens directly onto sections of the model, then brush it and fade it out with the q-tip and after letting it dry and set for awhile then applying a layer of gloss to seal the layer in and prep for the next layer. I also remembered to apply the decals before weathering this time, and I sanded them down for a more worn look. 

Build and fit was kind of frustrating, the wings are movable so I had to do the paint job with the majority of the body mostly assembled but still open with the nose off so I could slide the wings in and close it up after all the painting. Which meant that I had to add the nose and then mask that area off and add a few final layers of paint, ink and gloss to that area once it was all closed up. Fit mismatches along the seams in the fuselage and where the cockpit canopy joins the fuselage were considerable and disappointing but for the most part it fit well and the build was relatively easy outside of having to close the wings in late and then adding the nose and all that. Oh and there were recessed panel lines on the wings and certain parts of the model but not on others, so I had to draw the panel lines in on most of the body and fuselage freehand and that obviously would have been much easier if they had been recessed. I hate when the panel lines aren't recessed, or are shallow and inconsistent, but I absolutely despise raised panel lines above all things. I would rather have a model with great recessed lines and details but with a reasonable fit/seam problem over one with raised lines and an easy, perfect fit. And I suck at using putty to fill in gaps and seams. Whatever, I hate you raised panel lines, stay away from me, stay very far away.

Click on images below to see larger images

I didn't use any aftermarket parts only cause I'm broke, but I did some very minor scratchbuilding adding some small insulated colored and copper wire to the landing gear bays. I also used some chalk mixed with small amounts of thinner to give the interior of the exhaust a burnt look. Took a lot of shots and tried to get the best shots I could of the little details but am useless with camera. 

Also as far as the paint scheme and decals I mixed and matched getting ideas from pictures of different squadrons but for the most part its a pretty straightforward color scheme, didn't exactly take any chances there. I wanted a very stark, sort of more subtle look, although I think I was a bit aggressive with the weathering as far as the layering, fading and contrast in shadings. I had a lot of fun and experimented some more with this one, and I hope all the effort shows.

Many thanks again to Steve for creating and maintaining ARC and of course to the many fine scale-modelers who post here and give me a lot of inspiration.

David "Meurglys" Ull

Click on images below to see larger images